DIY Wedding Details

Entrance to the chapel

I have to give all the credit to this fabulous sign to my artist friend, Carly Edwards. I gave her a paint pen and told her to go with it. She selflessly gave her time (the entire 48 hours before our wedding) to painting anything and everything for me. Carly also painted our Unity Cross (below). She really is an artist y’all- check out her blog here.

Our cross was one of our favorite personal details about our wedding! Unfortuntely, there are no pictures of it from our photographer, so this one would not upload full size. I wanted something unique and got an idea from a teacher friend. I sketched out a drawing for our family friend /engineer/neighbor and he built us something even better. Then Carly took a paintbrush to it!

If you read our Love Story (catch it here), you know we met at Camp War Eagle as camp counselors. Our dear friend, Scott, is one of the directors. Scott willingly gave his time (during camp season) to travel and officiate our ceremony, with his sweet wife Becky in tow! Scott said these words about what our psychedelic cross symbolized:

Katie and Taylor will assemble a cross as a symbol of the joining of theirfamilies under direction of the one who made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross, Jesus Christ.

Reception- Family wedding pictures were the focal point so it made it extra special. Everyone has asked where these frames are from. They are Cut it Out frames- find them here for a reasonable price. Fyi: they do not come with glass and you paint them yourself, but they are much more reasonable than other options. I bought 8 frames of all different sizes for $170 including shipping.

Our cakes- PTL for these beautiful, leaning cakes. We got a phone call two weeks before our wedding that our adorable sweet elderly cake lady that has made every single one of my husband’s birthday cakes had cancer and would be in the hospital over our wedding day. Terrible. My beloved Papa had died unexpectedly that same weekend. Dagger. to. my. heart. My wonderful Aunt Joyce
called all her friends in Springfield trying to find us a wedding cake enthusiast at the last minute. Everything worked out and a lady named Robin accepted the challenge on a time crunch for the SAME price. What a blessing.

On a lighter note: shoes-love me some leopard print!

Wedding Centerpieces- I love that people that love us gave their time to help create these memories! My mom jumped on every zany idea I had with a smile. That woman mod podged and sealed *30* 12×12 leopard tiles for the centerpieces to stand on. My Aunt Kay donated most of our sparkle, sprigs, and deco mesh. My now husband went all over town to flea markets to find me records for the table numbers.

My teacher friends made this as the backdrop for my work wedding shower. It was so sweet that they chose my wedding colors so that I could hang it for the reception!

Tip #4- When I got to our rehearsal, I immediately started crying because ALL my favorite people were in the SAME room. It was overwhelming! I had a stack of “Order of Ceremony” fliers that someone immediately began handing out. It listed who was coming in first, what songs should be played when for the sound people, and answered everyone’s questions. We also handed out a “Surly Wedding Weekend Itenerary” with all the times :) Do anything to help you and your family enjoy the day without answering question after question!

Tip #5- On that note, have a “Day Of Coordinator”- a willing friend that you can give your checklist to on the day of the wedding so you do not have to worry about coordinating the small details. You and your family should be able to enjoy the day stress-free! I had TWO fabulous friends that I could not have gotten down aisle without! My BFFs from high school, Emily and Sarah, rescued every moment- from lost items, broken boutonnieres, transporting decorations, meeting the cake girl and DJ when they arrived, even handing out my checks to the vendors, and handing out the sprinkles to throw at the end of the night!

Looking for a quick and easy back to school gift for a friend or colleague? I created these last night and gave them to my 2nd grade team, admin, and office staff today. I used my favorite: Arbonne’s FC5 Cooling Foot Creme. But you could use any kind of lotion (full size or mini) for this! A […]

It’s officially summer for us teacher folks! My sixth year of teaching is complete and I’m making my list of books to read this summer. So comment away with your favorites! Here’s what’s next on my “Want to Read” list on Good Reads: I have some great recommendations to share, too. Here are some books […]

This weekend we painted our bathroom cabinets with Reclaim Beyond Paint- 3 in 1. Did you see the reveal? Click here. This is not a sponsored post. I did not receive free paint or anything like that. I just LOVE this paint. Like really. really. madly in love. It actually says “FOOLPROOF” on the container. No […]